(a) Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an electronic controller for generating a temperature control signal, which controller employs a microcomputer. The invention more particularly relates to an electronic controller capable of automatically regulating the temperature in each room of a household, depending on whether or not the room is occupied and/or lit.
(b) Brief Description of the Prior Art
The thermostats used for supplying an electrical control signal to a radiator, a furnace, an air conditionner or the like, typically employ a bimetal element which assumes a mechanical position according to the ambient temperature. Such a thermostat is disclosed, by way of example, by Welkel et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,368. The above thermostats have a limited thermal sensitivity.
Some thermal regulating systems permit to reduce the energy consumption due to heating during certain periods of the day through the use of an electronic or mechanical timer. Such systems are disclosed, by way of examples, in the Canadian patents of Carlson (No. 741,463), Rudolph (No. 1,035,448), Lavine (No. 1,114,474) and Wong (No. 1,117,625). However, as these systems depend solely on their timer, they lack flexibility since they do not take into account unforeseen changes in the occupancy of the room before the preset time.
Another method of thermal regulation consists in lowering the temperature setting before leaving the household and re-establishing the desired temperature setting upon arrival. Such a method does, in fact, reduce energy consumption. However, since this method is not automatic, it is quite inconvenient. Furthermore, the house keeper hesitates to employ this method as he prefers entering his home when it is already at the desired temperature rather than having to wait uncomfortably between the time he has increased the temperature setting and the time the room has reached the desired temperature.